The Security Council on Friday did not get enough votes to pass a resolution that would have postponed the trials of Kenyan leaders at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The African Union had requested the court, which is based in The Hague, to defer the trials of Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata and Deputy President William [...]

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has welcomed the adoption on 5 November of the first resolution on people with albinism by the main regional human rights body in Africa. Albinism, a genetic condition found in all races, is characterized by a deficit or complete lack of melanin in the skin, [...]

The head of the joint mission that's overseeing the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria will be returning to the country shortly for further talks with the authorities. Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator of the Joint Mission of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations made the announcement in a [...]

The Security Council on Friday failed to adopt a resolution for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to defer the trials of Kenyan leaders for one year. The African Union had requested the Council to adopt a resolution to postpone the trials of President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto. They face charges before the [...]

Young girls in northern Ethiopia can now fetch water without fear of getting raped or abducted. The construction and rehabilitation of water points by UNICEF, the European Union (EU) and other partners, is making their lives easier. Five years ago, it would take three full hours to collect unclean water from a river after walking [...]

Airports have been reopened, transport has resumed and countries are coming forward with aid a little over a week after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed parts of the central Philippines. That's what representatives of United Nations agencies in Geneva told reporters on Friday as they shared details of the ongoing rescue operations. The number of people affected [...]

Mia Farrow, world renowned American actress and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) visited the Central African Republic recently. She travelled to one of the villages in the north-western region of the country where more than 40,000 people have been displaced by recent violence. Although there is a transitional government entrusted with restoring [...]

The UN Human Rights Office has welcomed the French government's swift condemnation of what it described as a racist attack on the country's Justice Minister Christiane Taubira. This week, a magazine published the minister's picture with the caption "Cunning as a monkey, Taubira gets the banana back." Although the magazine stated these were just common [...]

With negotiations on a global climate change treaty currently underway in Poland, a UN independent expert is calling for governments to make concrete funding commitments to tackle the effects of climate change. Virginia Dandan, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and International Solidarity, urges ministers to clarify what resources would be forthcoming when they meet [...]

Three hundred and forty-seven million people worldwide have diabetes and the World Health Organization (WHO) projects that it will be the 7th leading cause of death in 2030. Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas cannot produce enough insulin, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces, resulting in [...]

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is calling on countries to protect asylum-seekers, including Syrians escaping the crisis in their homeland. This follows reports that some European Union states have been denying entry to asylum-seekers or even turning them back. The agency says such practices could place these people at further risk and expose them to [...]

One week after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, the full extent of the disaster is becoming increasingly clear, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The agency reported that humanitarian hubs have been established in at least seven of the hardest-hit provinces and that aid is beginning to reach people in need. However, WHO [...]

As United Nations agencies scale up their relief efforts in the typhoon-hit regions of the Philippines, a major fuel shortage is hampering efforts to reach millions of affected people with humanitarian aid. UN agencies say although aid is now arriving in the country, moving it to those in need is taking longer than expected due [...]

Relief efforts continue in the Philippines where UN agencies and their partners have been rushing in personnel and supplies in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms on record. The UN has launched a $300 million appeal to assist the more than 11 million survivors. UN court rules in favour of [...]

NARRATOR: Every year for the past 22 consecutive years, CARICOM Member States gathered in the General Assembly to sound their voices with many others of the opposition to the United States imposition of the economic, commercial and financial embargo against the Republic of Cuba. St. Kitts-Nevis' Representative Ambassador Delano Bart noted that for 53 years, [...]

NARRATOR: The founding of the OAU preceded by a decade the establishment of our own Caribbean Community in 1973, the representative of Guyana Ambassador George Talbot told the UN General Assembly. Speaking on behalf of CARICOM during discussion on the New Partnership for Africa's development, Ambassador Talbot said that not long after that, the 1975 [...]

NARRATOR: Jamaica attaches great importance to the vital work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in fostering nuclear safety and security and promoting peaceful uses of nuclear technology. It's representative Ambassador Courtnay Rattray told a meeting of the General Assembly on the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency that the Agency’s practical and [...]